Today’s Costume: Nordic Skier

Cross country skis I must be the only person in Nova Scotia praying for snow these days. We’ve certainly had enough of it but it took me all winter to get my cross-country gear sorted out and now I am keen to make the most of it. My old school ski boots had rotted to the point of total dysfunction so I ordered a pair on eBay. They were much too small to be comfortable so I will be selling them. In the meantime I found a perfectly fitting pair at Value Village. Got them home and realized they didn’t fit my bindings. So I ordered new bindings from MEC thinking they would be shipped from Halifax. Nope. Shipped from Vancouver, the other side of the country. Said bindings arrived and I realized that installing them was a little out of my comfort zone so I drove them in to the city with the skis to have them installed at MEC. I have to say, the young fellow doing the work was most helpful in many ways and my skiing was that much better today for his education. Anyhow, by the time I got the gear ready the snow had all but disappeared. We got a few centimetres overnight so I was keen to get out and and take a little exercise.

rails to trailsI am not very proficient with skiing so I chose to go on the old rail bed, part of “rails to trails” between Liverpool and Summerville Beach. It was five below, sunny and cold in the wind.

winter woods

IMG_7525Something had gone down the trail before me earlier this morning as you can see by these tracks. I hoped that it wasn’t a coyote, or if it was, that it had no plans to retrace its path. I still don’t have a good plan in case of a coyote attack.

tracksWhat I learned today:

– the harder you try, the harder the work. Once I relaxed and let the skis do the work I moved a lot better.

– don’t ski over pine needles. They cause the snow to stick and build up. At one point it had the effect of putting the brakes on full force.  I almost got a whiplash.

– stop and turn around before you are tired. Why is it that Parsons’s have the inability to pace themselves?

– bring treats for the coyotes. Ones that will hopefully stick their mouths together. Peanut butter and honey on flypaper?

– doesn’t matter how cold the day, a hot flash is still hot as Hades.

© Judy Parsons 2014

 

 

 

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